[LeeH]

Not sure where to turn with this. I've exhausted my handyman skills, but am trying to avoid calling a plumber.

We have a single level house. the drain system is pretty much in the shape of a "Y" with one branch coming from the kitchen and one coming from the master bath. The hall bathroom is at the intersection of the other two branches. The third leg goes out to the sewer, and the laundry is off of that part.

A month or so ago we started hearing gurgling at the kitchen sink. Then, when we run a lot of water the kitchen sink will back up. Running the disposal while holding the drain down on the other side will push the water through, but it tends to gurgle and back flow into the sink once the disposal is turned off.

I've run a 50' snake through every possible location in the house. Theoretically, it the snake has been through every inch of the drain line. I've run it from the kitchen, from the hall bath, from the master bath, from the laundry and from the outside cleanouts in the yard.

After snaking the entire system, the drain was still acting the same. My last ditch effort was to run water in the kitchen until it backed up, wait for the level to go down then quickly pull the trap and use one of the expandable bladders to pressurize the line. I thought that worked. We didn't notice any problems for a couple of weeks, but now it's backing up just like before. Not sure what else to do. I'm afraid a plumber will just snake the lines (as I've already done).

I haven't checked to roof vents. Based on what's happening, could a clogged vent even cause this? We don't have any trees near our house so I know it's not filled with leaves. Dead bird, maybe?

Any ideas?